From time to time, the components within a toilet tank may need adjustment or replacement. For example, various components within a toilet tank such as a flapper, handle chain/linkage or other components may leak or malfunction in some other manner. In many situations, a leak may result in a significant waste of water. In order to replace or fix such components, an individual may have to drain the toilet tank itself to work on the normally submerged components. However, the moment that the water level drops in a typical toilet tank, a fill valve is opened and water flows into the tank in order to refill the tank for the next flush. Consequently, to stop the flow of water into the tank, an individual typically locates a shut-off valve that is outside the toilet tank near where the water supply is supplied into the tank.
However, in the typical case, such a shut-off valve may not have been operated for years. In many situations, this means that shut-off valves often fail to work. Thus, to shut off the flow of water to the toilet tank in order to perform the desired maintenance, the individual often locates the main water shut-off valve in the entire dwelling or other building to shut the water off at such a point. Once the water has been shut off, then maintenance can be performed within the toilet tank after water is drained as no further water will flow back into the tank. After malfunctioning or old components have been maintained or replaced in the toilet tank, then the individual can manipulate the main water shut-off valve in the dwelling or other building to reestablish water pressure in the dwelling or other building.
Since the toilet tank is empty when the water is turned back on, a typical fill valve in the toilet is in an open state. Consequently, the first component within the dwelling or building that typically calls for water after the water pressure is reestablished is the fill valve within the empty toilet tank. When the water pressure was shut off within the dwelling or other building, the pressure may drop from 50 psi to 0 psi. When the pressure is reestablished by turning on the main valve, then the pressure goes back from 0 psi to 50 psi. These abrupt changes in the pressure within the piping system of a dwelling or other building typically disturb sediment and rust that have accumulated inside the walls of the pipes. Since the fill valve is usually the first thing to call for water when water pressure is reestablished, all of the rust and sediment that has loosened due to the pressure changes in the pipes heads directly for the fill valve. This sediment and rust can lodge itself within the fill valve, creating leaks and other problems.